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It is widely assumed in adversarial legal systems that cross-examination is the most effective method to ascertain the truth. However, a growing body of literature demonstrates the efficacy of cross-examination can be negatively impacted by individual differences such as age, and case factors including the delay between witnessing the event in question and testifying at trial. Moreover, the process of cross-examination can be a distressing experience for young witnesses. The introduction of ‘Section 28’ pre-trial cross-examination in courts throughout England and Wales is an attempt to improve the experiences and evidence quality of young witnesses in light of these concerns. This paper presents the views of seven police officers and six charity workers (commissioned through the local Police and Crime Commissioner to provide emotional support to young people affected by crime) who were interviewed prior to the national implementation of the Section 28 scheme for pre-trial cross-examination. It remains the only work that draws on insights from those from the charitable sector who support young witnesses through trial. It also provides more recent insights from police officers on their perspectives of the, then prospective, scheme. Two superordinate themes were identified: (a) the need for careful application, and (b) the impact of Section 28 on defendants. The findings are discussed considering the current literature, and context of the implementation of Section 28 since the study was conducted. Limitations of the research and suggestions for future practice are discussed.

This article examines the purpose behind the provision of special measures—adaptations to courtroom formalities—to vulnerable or intimidated people giving evidence in criminal trials. It shows that fostering the principle of humane treatment and improving evidence quality were the initial motivations underpinning the introduction of special measures. The focus in this article is on the principle of humane treatment, and whether the current provision of special measures successfully fosters it. The article conceptualises the principle of humane treatment so that it can be used as the normative measure against which to evaluate the current provision of special measures to vulnerable witnesses and the accused. It concludes that the solely instrumental legal basis on which special measures are currently available risks insufficiently protecting vulnerable or intimidated participants from the harm and distress that the criminal trial often causes, and that this can amount to inhumane treatment.

This article explores the consequences of unenthusiastic criminal justice reform through the case study of special measures provision in England and Wales. These measures provide assistance to vulnerable people giving evidence in criminal trials. For witnesses other than the accused, the law’s development followed a standard process: public concern; governmental inquiries; legislation; and a period of inception to prepare for its implementation. The development of special measures for the accused did not follow this same pattern. Instead, it was gradual, ad hoc and somewhat reluctant. This article argues that the way and the context in which special measures developed for the accused has had a negative impact on the extent to which they are embedded within the criminal justice system. This, in turn, has negatively affected their uptake in practice. It is concluded that the way in which the law is reformed is important to its success in practice.

Drawing on complementary theoretical perspectives, we investigate whether and to what extent family-influenced firms differ from their nonfamily counterparts in terms of the relationship between managerial attention to natural environmental issues and concomitant environmental actions. Using data from letters to shareholders and the KLD database, we investigate 97 firms in five polluting industries. Our findings indicate that family firms positively moderate the relationship between top managers’ attention to natural environmental issues and proactive environmental action. Conversely, nonfamily firms demonstrate less proactive environmental action as their attention to environmental issues increases, suggesting greenwashing. We argue that attention and action behaviors in family firms are intimately connected with their desire to preserve socioemotional wealth and indicate a lower propensity to greenwash, whereas nonfamily firms’ short-term financial objectives may motivate a different response pattern.

Witnesses and defendants are able to give evidence by live link provided that they meet the vulnerability criteria set out in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (1999). The vulnerability criteria include, in brief, the defendant or witness being young and/or suffering from a physical, mental or learning disability. Findings from interviews undertaken with 18 criminal practitioners indicate that, even when a defendant is sufficiently vulnerable to qualify for the use of live link, the provision is rarely invoked. Drawing on this data, this article identifies a series of barriers which contribute heavily to the inaccessibility of the live link provision to vulnerable defendants giving evidence in their trials.

The theory of entrainment suggests that positive benefits, such as enhanced competiveness and above-normal levels of performance, can be achieved by creating temporal alignment and coordination between and among an organization's internal processes and external environment. We investigate the effect of external and internal entrainments on firm innovativeness, and hypothesize that the interaction between external and internal entrainment serves to enhance the effect of external entrainment on firm innovativeness. Using survey responses from the owners, CEOs, and top managers of 217 organizations in a range of industries, we establish evidence of (1) a positive link between external entrainment and firm innovativeness, and (2) the moderating effect of internal entrainment on the external entrainment-firm innovativeness relationship. The results provide insight into the performance benefits of managing the temporal elements of an organization's environment.

This chapter primarily concerns by those who are officially deemed to be victims of crime; that is where the person's victimhood has been accepted by state authorities and this has formed the basis of a prosecution. It discusses the experiences of victims when they are giving evidence in court, concentrating on legislative attempts to overcome, or at least to alleviate, the difficulties that they may experience. The chapter also discusses the attempts by legislators to restrict the ability of the defence to cross-examine sexual offence victims about their sexual history, the routine revelation of which has deterred victims from coming forward and negatively impacted jury perceptions of victim credibility. The failure to recognise victims as parties is particularly problematic in relation to the 'mass production' of guilty pleas, perhaps the most striking characteristic of adversarial systems. In adversarial systems, there are just two parties to criminal disputes: the prosecution and the defence.

This paper explores the potential conflict between employment protections afforded to individuals with bipolar disorder, and employers’ obligations to maintain a safe working environment for others in the workplace. Both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAA) provide workplace protections to those employees or applicants who are classified as qualified individuals with a disability. A disability is “a substantial impairment—a physical or mental impairment—in a major life activity that would substantially limit that major life activity.” ( 42 U.S.C. §§ 12102(1)(A)-(C)), and “mental impairment” is defined to include individuals with bipolar disorder (42 U.S.C. § 1630.2(h)(2)). These statutes further impose a requirement on employers to make reasonable accommodations for such individuals. In essence, they protect the bipolar employee from any discrimination in the workplace based on their disability, to include harassment by coworkers. However, employers may find themselves caught on the horns of a dilemma. Depending on the nature and severity of the bipolar employee’s conduct toward coworkers, they may also be exposed to liability for harm done to coworkers under negligent retention laws, or even the anti-harassment provisions of other equal employment statutes. If a bipolar employee’s negative behaviors toward coworkers are sufficiently severe or pervasive, they can result in coworkers suffering harassment sufficient to constitute actionable conduct under the ADA. To reduce exposure to litigation, employers must understand both their obligations under the ADA, and the nature of bipolar disorder.

Large transnational professional service firms (PSFs) are highly influential in today's global economy because they underpin the integrity of financial markets, enable complex international transactions, and deliver ideas and advice to the world's largest corporations and governments. They sell expertise – that most intangible of outputs – and they seek to provide customized solutions to demanding clients on a global basis. Many other businesses will face similar challenges in the 21st century, as the world becomes more globally connected and customers become more demanding, seeking customized products or services that fit their particular needs. As such, professional service firms – of which accounting, law, and consulting are prime examples – are critical corporate players in the 21st century. PSFs also face significant managerial challenges. Over the past few decades, they have grown in complexity, both geographically and in size, to the point where traditional organizational arrangements have proven inadequate. How have PSFs responded, and what lessons can we draw? Our ongoing studies of PSFs show the emergence of a “multiplex” organizational form. Organizations that are successfully implementing the multiplex design are responding to their complex environments by developing highly differentiated structures in order to capture the benefits of deep specialization along several axes. The trick, however, is in pulling these differentiated parts together. The risk that high differentiation will overpower attempts at coordination was responsible for the earlier failure in various industries of the two-dimensional matrix organizational form. But transnational PSFs have gone further by using three axes of differentiation – and appear to have done so successfully. They have discovered how to gain the powerful benefits of multidimensional specialization without losing overall coordinated effort. First, transnational PSFs have developed multiple axes of deep expertise with respect to their professional services, clients, and markets. Second, professionals within these firms are members of multiple practice groups and teams that criss-cross the multiple axes of expertise, thereby creating a landscape of nascent communities in which personal networks can flourish and expert knowledge can be identified. Third, the deep specialization and experience embodied in a firm's resources are pulled together and harnessed via a client management system, an integrative mechanism which classifies and sorts clients according to various strategic and operational criteria, assigns responsibility for each to appropriate senior professionals (partners), and assists in creating semi-permanent or bespoke client teams to address the needs of a client or specific engagement. Fourth, and perhaps most important, cooperation and coordination are achieved through a culture of reciprocity that is developed and sustained by a number of strategic, organizational, and normative processes within the firm. In this article, we elaborate on this promising organizational design for the 21st century. We use accounting firms as our example, because they are exemplars of the knowledge-intensive, multiplex organizational form, but our research in other professional service organizations confirms that they, too, are using the same practices to develop the same design template. We begin by outlining the challenges for which this organizational form is the emerging solution.

This exploratory case study of a professional service firm (PSF) examines how the firm is able to coordinate and control its cross-border operations. In particular, it reports a qualitative investi...